Notes / Commercial Description:
E is definitely not a Belgian IPA - it's a funky version of Edward (american pale ale) - fermented with brettanomyces, dry hopped with galaxy, and aged on stainless for four months. Basically, we refer to it as a farmhouse pale ale - a cross between a saison and an american pale.

2012 Release: Aged in Mimosa barrels.
2014 Release: Aged in wine barrels with resident yeast and microfloa for 1.5 years.

Pours a hazy golden hay color with a huge white head. Carbonation is a bit intense, but nothing to complain about. Smell is a fantastic mix of hops and brett, the two really come together nicely to give it a great citrus smell. Flavor follows the smell, brett is predominant, but the citrusy hops really combine with it to give it a fantastic taste. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, but a little too over-carbonated. It's a pretty great beer that really is only hurt by its heavy carbonation. Another impressive effort from HF.

Poured a very cloudy, hazy, orange. HUGE 4 inch head even with a very cautious, slow pour. Settles to a 1/2 inch fluffy white head with thick, chunky lacing.

Bready yeast dominates the scent. The funkiness is in the background. I LOVE the way IPA smell and with the added funk, the aroma is a winner!

The taste is good. If it were considered a 'true' Saison, I'd probably rate it lower, but being a bretted IPA makes it hit the mark. It isn't my first choice in style, but it is very good. First taste is of mostly bready. Once past the breadiness (is that a word??) you get hit with a fantastic funk fromthe Brett. Then a smooth, tart finish.

It is a medium body and on the dry side.

I reslly enjoyed this beer and the IPA w/ brett thing...but I prefer a more traditional saison. That being said, I'd never turn this away. Really enjoyed it and glad to have had the opportunity.

E. pours a light bodied, very, very cloudy tangerine orange witha three finger, root beer esque foamy bright white head. The nose is very dry, full of Brett, with a moderate fruitiness. It drinks really dry with loads of Brett and almost a grapefruit like fruit presence. Its funky and has plenty of barnyard characteristics. It's interesting, just very dry. It drinks light and smooth. I like it but not nearly as much as I like Anna.

Apricot gold color...lingering head. Giant aromas...somewhat pigeon poop or cat litter with plums...funky, and a brilliant mix of hops. Stark bitterness, fruit rinds, lemon zest, and big brett. A bit rough but interesting. Probably not more than a 10 oz will do me! I don't want to give a poor rating but this just doesn't grab me like most saisons.

Aroma: Big orange zest and funk notes upfront. Green apple and citrus juice provides a really nice backing. The hops are definitely present there as well and provide an interesting contrast.

Taste: Bitter pine notes from the hops really take over more here than in the aroma. A light backing of citrus zest and funk does well to balance the bitterness. A really interesting combination of pale ale and saison/wild ale. It works very well together in this case.

Some fine sir shared this at Zwanze Day, but I don't remember who. But thanks!

A - Orangish yellow colored beer with a really big head that foamed up for a long time. Lot of stick on the sides.

S - I really didn't know what this beer was when I smelled it, for some reason I was thinking saison. There was quite a bit of syrupy fruit and a heavy dose of yeast.

T - Very heavy taste, it's kind of a yeast explosion with a lot of syrupy tropical fruit. Not particularly bitter. It tastes good, but the yeast is a little too much for me.

M - Lighter bodied with a lot of carbonation. Fairly dry.

O - This is a good beer for something that is a bastard style. It's just not a style I think is particularly good, and the phenolic quality of the yeast makes it hard for me to drink in large doses. Would like to try this one again though.

Taste: The first flavor to hit my tongue is a light caramel sweetness. A little bit of pepper and spice, then toward the end the flavor turns a little bit sour and some funk comes out. Some fruit is soft - peach, grapefruit, apricot.

Mouthfeel: Dry and light bodied, with a carbonation that is both somewhat crisp and creamy.

Overall: This is too dry for my taste, and it seems like the beer loses focus.

At the time of this review, this is the #3 Belgian IPA on the best of beeradvocate lists on beeradvocate.com. Bottle shared by Thorpe on a football game day, thanks. Served in a snifter.

Beer is yellow and hazy with a nice head of small white bubbles, some lacing, moderate carbonation, looks good.

Aroma is pretty complex, fruitiness from the galaxy hops and a nice nose of Brett b I assume.

Beer is light and effervescent on the palate, strong through, nice funk, strong yeast character, almost spicy at times, tastes great, the finish is mildly dry, good hop character throughout. The yeast on the palate are the clear winner to me but overall it is a good beer. I'd have it again.

This was one of my favorite things I have ever put in my mouth.
Pours a pale straw color with a thick fluffy head.
Perfect weight. Somewhere between Saison, Sour, and IPA.
Smells very funky and inviting. Tons of barnyard. Horse Blanket.
Flavors of stone fruits and citrus with brett. Dry, juicy, refreshing. But that funk is to die for.

Poured clear copper color with a large frothy off-white head that was lasting with excellent lacing. Moderate to heavy sweet malt, brett, earthy leaves aroma. Medium to full body with a slick dry texture and soft carbonation. Medium to heavy sour & bittersweet flavor with a medium to heavy sour & bitter finish of moderate to long duration. My expectations where exceeded with a standout change of pace brew.

On tap at the Hill Farmstead Anniversary Celebration. Served in a Hill Farmstead long-stem tulip.

Pours a bright yellow-golden color that is mostly clear with a really nice white head. Loads of foam and lacing. Early pour from the keg that was mostly foam to start, but really nice retention. The nose carries a good dosing of funk along with some light floral hops and a good dosing of stone fruits. Some citrus as well. Nice funk throughout. Really really nice nose. The flavor has a moderate amount of funk and good hop flavor, but doesn't quite hit the level of the nose. Body is dry and funky with a good background bitterness. Dry finish. Light body. Delicious.

Update. Bottle batch two on May 14, 2012. Citrus, funk, and all around near perfection. Similar to batch one but taken up a notch. Brett mixes so incredibly well with the underlying beer and the hops add another layer. As close to perfection as a beer can get. Absolutely stunning.

The beer pours a golden amber color with very good head retention and lacing. The nose is very impressive and complex, showcasing citrus, light clove, considerable funk and slight sour. The flavor profile replicates the nose in this dry, hoppy, Belgian IPA, and I'm impressed by the melange of flavor I get. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied, with a hoppy, bitter, funk infused finish. The alcohol is barely noticeable in this excellent beer.

E. pours a clear light orange color into the HFB tulip with a thick frothy head that builds into a solid 2 finger meringue. Beautiful. The cloudy head settles into a sticky lace the fringes the top of the beer, settling in corners and creeping up the glass.

Aroma is verdant, grassy and straw-like; rich apricot notes, slightly floral and wonderfully rosey. A great enticing nose that is brett forward and fresh.

The taste starts with a balance of the brett, farmhouse character and fruity hop notes. This builds to a modest citrusy twang and settles to a nice aromatic bitterness that's balanced by light bodied malt sweetness.

This beer provides significant flavor and complexity within a delicate body. The carbonation is soft, effervescent and refreshing.

A unique style-blended beer for Hill Farmstead, and one that is a much appreciated nod to both the Belgian and American inspiration of this brewery.

Bottle. Pours a very attractive orange-golf with a rocky white cap. Nose is a melange of hop qualities, expressed with nice subtlety. Pine needle, orange pulp, cereal grains. Flavor is more pine needle, coconut husk, lingering grapefruit rind bitterness on the finish. The flaw here, to me, is that a light phenolic, almost medicinal touch persists throughout. The brett presence in this is fairly light but it just muddles everything and gives it this odd lingering quality that I don't dig. I don't really care for brett IPAs, or barrel-aged IPAs, so it's not surprising this isn't really stellar to me. I just think it would be so much more juicy and the hops more expressive without the brett here.

First beer of the day (like most other people it seemed) at the anniversary party.

Light golden colored, hazy body with a massive, dense rocky bone white head. Head takes forever to die down and leaves behind airy clumps of lacing throughout the glass. Aroma is light and delicate blend of barnyard and fruit. Initially muted earthy notes of grass, hay and brett subtly mix with apple, orange and citrus peel. Flavor takes a similar route, initially grassy and subtly funky before light citrus and spice clean up the finish. Trace bitterness or alcohol, this was very refreshing and almost sleight to a fault. Oops, tastes like someone got some Orval in my Dupont.

Pours a clear orange/amber color with a huge white head, very sticky and pillowy with a ton of nice lacing. Nose is a bit funky and maybe some bret? It reminds me of a hoppy Orval or houblon chouffe, very nice.

Mouthfeel seems a bit light, carbonation is there but not quite as big as I was expecting/hoping. Taste though, does not disappoint. Very hoppy and citrusy with yeasty Belgian spice that is very well done and balanced.

Poured into a Hill Farmstead glass. A big, rocky, white head forms off the first pour. A slightly hazy, honey-orange body lingers beneath. Good lacing.

Orange citrus, oak and leafy green hops on the nose. Earthy and a bit musty. Saison-like with a good helping of hops and citrus. I could sit and smell this one for awhile.

Oaky, dry orange peel, and juicy citrus-laced hops wash over the tongue. A touch of peppery bitterness mixed with a light, earthy, graininess from the brett. Excellent. I'm not sure if this beer ever saw barrels, but I'm still picking up some dry wood/oak notes. Love the Galaxy hops.

Mouthfeel is dry and earthy with light brett throughout. ABV is unnoticeable. Has a great rustic feel to the body. Light carbonation.

Overall, this is another excellent beer from the Hill Farmstead. Dry, earthy, citrus and hops. I could drink this farmhouse ale all day. A great beer that I hope Shaun bottles again in the near future.

Fresh-cut flowers - grassy and floral - grow out of the tropical and stone fruitiness mid-palate. There's a pithy bitterness throughout the palate that is most noticeable on the finish, but it blends seamlessly into the other elements of the beer, and the fruitiness becomes more and more expressive the further I get into the bottle.

As with most good things, E. is, more than anything, ponderable.

NOTE: Drink fresh. I had a second bottle of this 08/2011 and it was far inferior to the first bottle.

my grandmother always said that you can't come without something for everyone. a beer for philippe and i on my wild ride to some great beers and a giant trade.

pour is a beauty. about 3 finger on a light orange yellow body of a bit of haze. had it a bit warm and it displayed a wonderful vibrancy. the nose seems to have two dimensions to it. the brett citrus and the hop citrus. this was all sort of underlying in the belgian soft sweetness. this is not a brisk bitter edge of a BIPA. there is an accent to it that is american. but its formally just right. this was somewhere in the realm of fruit and earth and holds a lot of transitional flavors. lemon zest and mineral dryness give it a hint of lemon grass. a mango and white grape fuse with a oak crisp mild sense of mineral that very much give it that lychee quality. from the tough skin to the strange grape, mango, rotten pear note of the fruit inside. there was a nice pollen note even... hints of floral hops play against the perfume sweet of a tulip. i didn't get particularly any overbearing imbalance. as a first bottle it quite interesting and a great culmination of flavors. i have another that i plan on sharing with a friend in august. wondering about the possibilities.

Pours with thick (2+ fingers) of fluffy white head atop a warm amber gold body with the signature HF haze.

Nose is very dry smelling with some woody funkiness, a suggestion of apple cider and dried flowers. Somewhat muted or rather understated at first. As it warms and opens up the brett comes out with some stone fruit aromas.

Palate shows the brett right off the bat. That classic woody funk mingles with the citrus notes of the standard Edward. Carbonation is sharp and higher than other HF releases. This with the young acidity (funk) and hop bitterness makes for a sharp, biting mouthfeel. Reminds me a lot of the Spanish Cava effect (hard to hold it in you mouth for very long). The finish is earthy in a dusty dry clay way, some straw and that dried flowers thing comes back.

Notes: A delicious, young, funky, hoppy, slightly sour pale ale. I dig this style - progressive, unique and it will be interesting to see how it evolves over time.

Shared tonight with Robert (rtepiak) that came all the way from New York, stopped today at Hill Farmstead and to my place in Montreal for a massive trade and to try a couple of beers. Amazing BA.

Easter special release. This is a Belgian IPA with Brett. 750 ml.

A: Light honey color beer, hazy. The head is just massive, creamy looking and pure white. Retention is really good as well as lacing. Head is pure white.

S: At first, both of us were thinking mango and passion fruit. But then, Robert said lychee and it was most definitely lychee in the beer. Some trace of musk from the brett. It has an earthy character in the smell as well as real subtle honey and pepper. Strong strong smell overall.

T: Most like the smell, mango, passion fruit but most of all lychee are the main players. This beer is so fruity (it is also extremely fresh). Much dryer than expected too (maybe the brett?). Also, good amount of pine resin, orange zest and herbal hops. The hay, the muskiness and the earth characteristics just blend perfectly with the beer. Light honey and pepper at the very end. Very dry, thanks to brett. I really would have a hard time imagining a better Belgian IPA that has the west coast at heart (aka very hop forward).

M: Light to medium body with medium to strong carbonation. Lighter than expected, but I doubt the Brett had something to do with this.

O: A wonderful beer from a wonderful brewery. It is very fruity, dry, hop forward, earthy, musky, dry. It was weird but wonderfully easy to approach. Most definitely the most taste you can get out of a 6.2 ABV beer. Sharing it with an amazing BA just made the whole experience better.